Women can increase their risk of breast cancer by drinking as little as three small glasses of wine a week, a study has found.
Alcohol is a known risk factor for breast cancer, but few studies have looked at its effect at low levels.
The research showed even 5 grams to 9.9g of alcohol a day, the equivalent of three to six small glasses of wine per week, is associated with a 15% increase in risk.
Women who consumed at least 30g of alcohol daily, or at least two drinks a day, were 51% more likely to develop breast cancer than those who never drank.
US scientists analysed data on 105,986 participants in the Nurses’ Health Study. Over a period of almost 30 years, more than 7,600 of the women were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer.
The research showed that alcohol consumption between the ages of 18 and 40, and after 40, was strongly associated with breast cancer risk.
“Our results highlight the importance of considering lifetime exposure when evaluating the effect of alcohol, and probably other dietary factors, on the carcinogenesis process,” wrote the scientists from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. “However, an individual will need to weigh the modest risks of light to moderate alcohol use on breast cancer development against the beneficial effects on cardiovascular disease to make the best personal choice regarding alcohol consumption.”
Two years ago Oxford University scientists reported that women who drank one small glass of wine a day raised their lifetime risk of certain cancers by 6%.
Read more: https://www.examiner.ie/ireland/health/3-glasses-of-wine-a-week-ups-breast-cancer-risk-172571.html#ixzz1cXkleltz
